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Mahoney on winning the Brooks Robinson award

He wasn't on Baseball America's list of the O's top 30 prospects in the pre-season, but he will be now.

Joe Mahoney is at Camden Yards tonight to receive his Brooks Robinson O's Minor League Player of the Year award.

"Great honor. To get the call was definitely a good day. It means a lot. The Orioles are a great organization and for them to give me this award speaks a lot about the year I've had.

"I've come a long way and been working hard. Trying to be the future first baseman for the Orioles hopefully," Mahoney said.

The O's sixth-round pick in 2007, the lefty hitter batted .307-18-78 in 124 games this year between Frederick and Bowie with 30 doubles, 13 steals and an OPS of .864.

"Just consistency. Trying to, day in and day out, not get in those big slumps that turn a bad game into a bad week and a bad month. Going out there and clearing your mind every day and trying to be the player I want to be every day.

"Double-A, that first few weeks was a lot of for me, probably the most fun I've ever had playing baseball. It was definitely encouraging to know that I can hit at that level.

"You hear a lot that if you can hit in Double-A, you can hit in Triple-A and if you can hit in Triple-A, you can hit in the big leagues, so, obviously it was a confidence builder for me."

In 52 games with Bowie, beginning July 9, Mahoney hit .319-9-29 with an OPS of .922.

On another note, O's first-round pick Manny Machado is expected to take batting practice with the Orioles here at Camden Yards on Saturday and later be introduced to the crowd.